Lucas distributor maintenance

[BDA]

I think Brian alluded to this a while ago but after a little surfing on the Interwebs, I haven't found any information on this subject at all. Back when I was racing (an age ago), my MG distributor had a felt pad in the distributor shaft apparently to keep dust out and allow for oil to be retained. The distributor in my car (23D) has what looks like a metal "button" in the distributor shaft. I have squirted a bit of light oil in there just in case it was required but I'm wondering:

1. What is maintenance schedule for Lucas (or Renault) distributors? If your distributor shaft has, as mine does, a "button" rather than something that looks like some sort of oil receptacle for oil, does it take oil anyway?

2. If oil is called for, what sort? I assume motor oil like for the rest of the motor.

3. During my investigating, I found a guy who discussed different MG B distributors and he claimed they have a life of about 50,000 miles before they need to be rebuilt. Is that a lifetime we should anticipate regardless of maintenance?

[jbcollier]

Distributor life depends on how well it's maintained.  Not quite sure what you mean by a "metal button".  Picture?  Or, link to a picture?

The points rubbing block should be lubed with points grease.  Bosch still makes it.  One tube lasts a long time.  My first tube lasted 25 years and, as a mechanic, I changed a lot of points back in the day.  The grease should be applied "upstream" so cam rotation pulls it across the rubbing block.

Every time you change the points/every 5K/once a year, put a couple of drops of engine oil "into" the distributer shaft underneath the ignition rotor.  This works its way down and then out onto the weights, springs and pivots.  Oil drains away and dries up over time.  Lack of oiling will result in rapid wear.

If you fit an electronic points replacement, you still have to regularly oil the distributor shaft!

[BDA]

Sorry I don't have a picture of the "button." I would have take the carbs off to get one and that's a pretty big job but the next time I take them off, I'll take a picture. The best description I can come up with is that it is shiny, looks to be somewhat convex, be very nearly the same size as the ID of the shaft. I'm pretty sure there are no screwdriver slots in it - it is very smooth. As I said, it doesn't look like something to squirt oil on but then that is probably my ignorance of it's purpose.

I have a Pertronix so the points-replacement schedule wouldn't work for me. Would a schedule of every 5-6000 miles be appropriate? Or would less often be adequate?

[jbcollier]

It's usually a slotted screw or a felt (on top of the slotted screw).

[dakazman]

  Found this on the web
http://lotus-europa.com/manuals/s2parts/h/index.htm
Dakazman

[SENC]

You might check with Martin Jay at Distributor Doctor - I've found him extremely helpful and knowledgeable, and his distributor and parts stock better than any if you need bits.

[BDA]

Thanks for the picture, D'man. My distributor is fine (I hope) so I'm not looking for another. I am a bit baffled by your link to S2 steering parts though!

Senc, I did go to Martin's website hoping to find some information but didn't find any! Maybe I'll give him a call.

I also talked to Ken at Dave Bean and he suggested a light oil - one that included Teflon being preferable. I trust Ken but I'd also like to hear from others if they have an opinion?

[jbcollier]

I use Dexron 2/3 equivalent for all my light oiling.

[EuropaTC]

I have a couple of sets of notes on this, mainly out of curiosity these days.  The first is from (I think) an old MG website as these guys do seem to take maintenance seriously

Lubrication of the Distributor

The distributor, like all other moving parts in an engine, requires periodic lubrication, roughly every 10,000 km (6,000 miles). Lubrication is slightly different for the two Lucas series distributors. On the older series, the cam should be lubricated with Retinax 'A' or an equivalent grease. You should then inject a couple of drops of clean engine oil (SAE 30) through the aperture in the contact breaker base plate. This will lubricate the automatic advance mechanism. Next lift off the rotor arm and apply a few drops of engine oil to the top of the shaft to lubricate the cam bearing.

Certain distributors in the earlier series have two-piece contact breaker sets. On these you should apply one drop of engine oil to the pivot post on the contact breaker base plate. If your distributor has one-piece contact breakers, simply smear a little grease on the outside of the hollow pivot post. Do not use too much. On 43, 44, and 45 series distributors, first lubricate the contact breaker pivot post and the face of the cam with Retinax 'A' or equivalent grease. Next, apply a few drops of engine oil to the felt pad at the top of the cam to lubricate the spindle, then lubricate the vacuum advance, where fitted, through the two small apertures in the contact breaker base plate.

With electronic ignition we can forget the cam/points grease but the other stuff, a few drops for the bearing and advance plates are still relevant. I think Lotus used to be more specific about servicing in the early days so the section on the Elan manual from 1963 is probably what they thought was state of the art back then. 

Distributor Cam Bearing

Unclip the distributor cap and lift the rotor off by pulling it squarely. Add a few drops of oil to the bearing via the hole in the top of the shaft now exposed. Do not remove the screw situated in the well of the shaft. There is clearance between the screw and the inner face of the shaft for the oil to pass. Replace the rotor with its drive lug correctly engaging the spindle slot and push on to the shaft as far as it will go.

Brian

[dakazman]

  BDA, That was a picture of a 23d Lucas distributor according to google.  Sorry about the link
It looks like they have a few links to more info on bottom of page 12.

https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/ignition/pdf/tuning_lucas_dist.pdf
Dakazman

[BDA]

Thanks all for the information (and the link - maybe we trust google too much?)! Great stuff and important to know! This isn't the first time that I've seen that knowledge of older Elans helps with newer Euopas!

[BobW]

The distributor on the Renault-engined cars was made by Ducellier. It has a two-piece breaker set and a felt pad under the rotor button. I imagine the lubrication advice for MG distributors would work pretty well.

I had my distributor rebuilt a few years ago by Jeff at Advanced Distributors. I believe he specializes in the Lucas ones.

[jbcollier]

The oil you put in at the top of the distributor shaft, flows down and is then slung out onto the advance mech.

New points have plastic pivots and do not require lubrication during their service life.

Easy on oiling the point felts.  It will be slung onto the points if there is too much.  Also, dry felts wear the points cam!  I remove the felts myself and use the proper grease on the points cam itself.